Fil-Am who committed suicide negative for drugs

Was it a case of desperation or death before dishonor?  

In what I initially viewed as a sad case there is now a new twist.  It seems that LCDR Scintar Mejia, USN, did not have drugs in his possession.  I can now imagine his complete and total despair at being accused of having drugs in his possession because he could clearly see that no matter the outcome of the investigation, his career in the United States Navy was clearly going to end.  When he arrived in Manila to visit his extended family he did so as one who is a hero.  He had not only done well in the United States but had become an officer in the military which was a most honorable accomplishment.  In his mind I'm certain that he could see that all that he had sacrificed for was being torn away from his grasp.  Instead of honor he was faced with guilt by suspicion at best or, at worst, dishonor and jail.

Was Mejia a drug user as confirmed by a post-mortem toxicology screen?  Was the sachet of powder in his bag, now known to be just powder and not a drug, a joke planted by a relative jealous of his accomplishments?  Was it placed there to take him down a notch or two from his perch of honor?  Or was it merely something slipped into the bag through slight of hand right there at the Manila airport with the idea of extracting a healthy bribe?  We will probably never know now that Mejia in a fit of total desperation threw himself into a stairwell thus ending what appears to have been a promising life.  Any of the above is a possibility but none of the above are certain.

Suicide is never easy to explain but in this case, it appears that the wrongful accusation of a poorly trained airport security inspector played a significant role.  I can only hope that the results of the investigation are fully aired.

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